Gecho v2 and Pocket Operator PO-20 Arcade

Published on Sep 12, 2019 Gecho Loopsynth

"Apologies for the video quality, cellphone camera is easily confused by bright LED lights.

The sound, on the other hand, is presented in its raw form; it was recorded digitally to micro-SD card (note the only cables plugged in are headphones and line input from PO), and was not normalized or edited except for fade in/out and lowering the volume a bit when the dog barked :)

Gecho can detect sync signal from PO while idle and set the global tempo parameter by it, but this is not implemented during play."

Gecho v2

Gecho v2 - How to build your DIY kit (acrylic sandwich)

Published on Sep 8, 2019 Gecho Loopsynth

"To give you an idea what's involved in putting together your DIY kit, and at the same time, how does PO-20 Arcade sound together with Gecho.

Step-by-step guide is here: http://gechologic.com/v2_diy_acrylic"

Update:

How to open and close battery door

Published on Sep 8, 2019 Gecho Loopsynth

"In some units the door does not move smoothly. This will get better over time as you use it, but in the meantime there is a simple trick to it.

If the door twists a little bit sideways, it will get stuck. Leaning the unit against a flat surface helps, but put something soft under (like a newspaper) to not scratch anything.

Puller is helping to get the door into the notch, but it is not a good idea to pull the door all the way only by the puller as it may snap, also it is very hard to keep the door straight, instead pull the door with your fingers.

This is a unit with 14500 rechargeable cell, so the door doesn't really need to be opened more than once when installing the cell. But of course with AA batteries powered unit you will need to do it more frequently. Plugging in the USB power at any time conserves batteries."

Gecho v2 - How to build your DIY kit (complete unit)

Published on Aug 20, 2019 Gecho Loopsynth

"To give you an idea what's involved in putting together your DIY kit, and at the same time, how does the "Sea" channel sound like when played with a MIDI keyboard.

We will make a similar time-lapse video with the "acrylic sandwich" version, also a guide with photos and more detailed explanations will be published on the website in next few days."

Gecho v2 - Complete unit with translucent buttons

Published on Aug 15, 2019 Gecho Loopsynth

"This is how they glow in the dark, it's hard to capture this realistically with a common smartphone camera (LEDs look less saturated and with pale white-ish centres, and the glowing gets a little bit amplified at higher exposure setting)... but I hope it will give you an idea.

The sound comes from Decaying Reverb channel that exists in v1 too but here it got a small upgrade (once I get chance to revisit v1's firmware, these fixes and improvements will be copied there too)."

Gecho v2 - PCB Assembly

Published on Aug 12, 2019 Gecho Loopsynth

"This was happening last week, all boards have been assembled and dispatched to us, should be arriving later this week.

I haven't had chance to process the sounds from the video through some of the Gecho's channels as usual, maybe will do that later when there is time, as at the moment there is still a few things to finish before we can start shipping. Perhaps for now it is better left as is, this is a music of it's own kind, enjoy! :)"

Gecho - The Original

Published on Jun 1, 2019 Gecho Loopsynth

"Now you can know the truth.

Get your own copy at http://gechologic.com

Detailed (microscopic) view of the original unit's central processor: [embedded below]

All music and sounds from the unit, no effects added.

Credits:

Narrated by Doctor Steve: http://www.doctorsteve.com/

Lost alien pets autopsied by Robert Lee https://www.roblee.ie/

Stone statues designed by Victor: http://victorsway.eu/

Warp tunnel sequence/rabbit hole and DSP processor insides courtesy of Beeple: https://www.beeple-crap.com/"


Published on Sep 9, 2018 Gecho Loopsynth

"Another quick demo of sounds from Polyphonic Whale - this time "Space" channel, in 2nd half of the video gradually overlapping with "Decaying Reverb".

No external or software effects added, only cut and mix in AfterFX. This is raw output from the Whale, from one to four layers per segment - to get a better idea what was involved, check this layer diagram: http://gechologic.com/upload/video/Or...

The footage is also without any added effects - output from my camera, focused on a region of outer space ;)"

Gecho v2 Prototype and Korg Volca FM

Published on Apr 1, 2019 Gecho Loopsynth

"The v2 prototype is working very well so far, here the MIDI Out functionality is being tested with Korg Volca, also Line-in and Line-out connectors are actively used. All is recorded via USB sound card directly from Gecho and presented in raw form. You can find more info here: http://gechologic.com/new-batch-updat..."

"The final Gecho v2 prototype
Since the previous update about v2 that was posted in August last year, it took 3 more revisions to get here. Although the first prototype of Gecho v2 has been completed, blueprints verified by our skilled hobbyists friends who soldered their own prototypes, and it even passed CE/FCC testing with flying colours, and we could go ahead with the production - it was just not good enough - it needed a small upgrade. And, things tend to turn more complicated than they appear :)

Thanks to everyone for encouraging comments, questions and feedback during the past few months, it has been very helpful and contributed a lot to shaping the new model.

While working on Glo (the whale synth), I came to realize that sticking to STM32 platform looks nice in short-term; in theory, only small modifications are needed to port the firmware over. But there was a risk that when implementing the new features you are waiting for, like MIDI and sync modes, it would be needed to trade off something on the sound side (e.g. level of polyphony) to get the extra power for the additional processing required.

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Evening at Salinas with Glo, the Polyphonic Whale

Published on Dec 23, 2018 Gecho Loopsynth

"Roaming the salt evaporation pond with a tiny digital real-time sound processor that you can fit into your pocket. Glo has many tricks upon his sleeve; so far we implemented reverbs, delays, loopers, low and high pass filters, granular samplers - and working on more. Find it at: https://kck.st/2QSv2xi

It is an open platform with DIY possibilities. There is a half-priced tier - a bare engine that you need to make an enclosure for.

This video was recorded with Canon EOS 550D running Magic Lantern firmware (to disable AGC and set up sound levels manually), then cut in AfterFX - as usual, no post-processing or added effects."

Glo the Polyphonic Whale - Forest (elemental mood channel)

Published on Nov 30, 2018 Gecho Loopsynth

"This is the first of the meditative/mood channels running in Glo, a new demo for our KS campaign: https://kck.st/2KGAHjj

No post-processing or added effects, everything is recorded via the Whale pocket synth and then cut in AfterFX. This is a raw output from the Whale."

Glo the Polyphonic Whale - Granular Sampler

Published on Nov 23, 2018 Gecho Loopsynth

"This is how the Granular Sampler patch manipulates your singing in real time.

Tilting the whale front-back controls polyphony, left-right selects major/minor chord and increases the stereo spread. You set the chord key by your voice."

Gecho & Friends - Part 3: 8bit Mixtape Neo

Published on Oct 24, 2018 Gecho Loopsynth

"This is the very cool looking 'Berliner Schule' edition of 8bit Mixtape Neo from http://neo.8bitmixtape.cc/ - a little digital synthesizer which is also available as a DIY kit! There are various firmwares available too, this is just one of them.

They play nice together. Mixtape's monophonic output is spread around stereo with delay effect, layered into the loop, filtered using low-pass filters individually controlled by four Gecho's infra-red proximity sensors.

As usual, no additional effects or post-processing applied."

See the Gecho label below for more.

Two odd portable synths reviewed - Bastl SoftPop and Gecho Loopsynth

Published on Sep 17, 2018 loopop

"These two synths couldn't be more different, and yet they are both portable, special and can make water sounds...."

Gecho & Friends - Part 2: RaKit Drum Synth

Published on Sep 6, 2018 Gecho Loopsynth

"Gecho's new best friend is Drum Synth from https://www.rakits.co.uk/ - a fully analog little synthesizer which is also available as a DIY kit!

Hear this delicious blend of analog and digital, layers of low frequencies, with overtones sweeping almost into ultrasonic. As usual, no additional effects applied."

Gecho & Friends

Decaying reverb

Published on Jul 31, 2018 Gecho Loopsynth

"One of the new functions added in the recent firmware update is something I call (for lack of a better name) 'Decaying reverb'.

It does not use filtering, but additional buffer - similar to echo delay line. This buffer's size slowly increases over time, by one sample every 250ms. This results in the resonance perceivably tuned up to a certain frequency (or note), which changes very slowly.

There is also a more interactive mode, which allows for tuning it using sensors and starting/stopping the ramp in both up or down directions."

this is a beautiful synthesizer

Published on Apr 15, 2018

"In todays video we take a look at the Gecho Loop Synth from http://www.gechologic.com/"

Also see Gecho - Making of Synth (Assembly Machines)


And a playlist from Gecho:



Playlist:
Gecho - Freedom of Creation (advert)
Gecho Explained - Part 1
Gecho Explained - Part 2
Gecho - Basic Channels
Gecho - Programming Modes
Gecho - Exotic Channels
Gecho - Accompanying Windows App

Gecho & Friends - Part #1: Minijam Studio tek.waves

Published on Nov 23, 2017 Gecho Loopsynth

"Gecho is a collaborative species. First of his friends featured here is the amazing tek.waves from Minijam Studio which I've discovered through Kickstarter.

Haven't learned all of its possibilities yet, so for starters, pre-programmed pattern is playing. More effects/settings are accessible through buttons combinations - for example, in addition to normal and alternate function of the knobs, you can access 4 more banks of things to tweak.

Tek.waves can surely do a lot more than this - the same is true for Gecho."

Gecho - New type of synthesis - DCO

Published on Jul 28, 2017 Gecho Loopsynth

"New channel #33 emulates 24 DCO oscillators, chained in simple way. The frequency of the first one is controlled by S1, then the "spread" is increased by S2 (frequency increment of each subsequent oscillator). S3 and S4 influence envelope and phase shift.

Exploring this channel feels like diving into an audible equivalent of a fractal. Various combinations yield some very Interesting effects, often a very slight change in one of them shuffles the whole arrangement around.

To get notified when next batch of Gechos is available, please subscribe to newsletter at http://gechologic.com"

Gecho + Fidget Spinners = Fun! :)

Published on Jul 13, 2017 Gecho Loopsynth

"The demonstration of high-pass filtering (as opposed to previously shown low-pass). Because this mode does not attenuate higher frequencies, faintest noises, scratches and taps can be heard perfectly.

More information at http://gechologic.com/"

Gecho - Making of Synth (Assembly Machines)

Published on May 30, 2017 Gecho Loopsynth

"Production line that makes Gechos, yay!

The soundtrack in this video is a raw recording of the output (no post-processing).

Factory noises from the original video have been fed to "guitar pickups" input and altered by series of Gecho's programmatically controlled high-pass filters (as opposed to low-pass demonstrated in previous videos), with resonance and arpeggiator triggered by IR sensors (as usual). Signal is wrapped in a loop of variable delay (you can hear it changing few times during the video). Another new function is possibility of feeding a sampled sound into the filters, which is good for parts where external signal is not present (here it's the quiet sound of water at the very end).

Video published with permission from Solitech, Electronics Development and Assembly: http://solitech.pl/en/contact.html

High resolution audio here:"



See the Gecho label below for more.

Gecho - Accompanying Windows App

Published on Feb 15, 2017 Gecho Loopsynth

"An early stage of Win32 application to control and program Gecho via USB port. It can send commands to start/stop any channel, also builds and transmits new chord progressions and melodies.

There is a new channel that is launched by "Direct Play" button, which plays received notes immediately to give user an audible feedback while programming new songs using the embedded virtual piano.

More information at http://gechologic.com/gecho-app"